Monday 2 April 2012

Relaying Dead Man's Curve: Part 1

I picked up some Micro Engineering Code 70 flex track at the Ally Pally show the other week, which means I can now proceed with relaying the problematical reversing loop. Not that I'm using the flex track for the loop, for that I've got some Atlas Code 80 sectional track, but I didn't have any track for the new transition from the loop to the crossings.


Here is the relaid loop. I've used transitional rail joiners to connect the Shinohara turnout to the Atlas set track. I also plan to change the alignment of the first curved spur that is next to the turnout too.


Looking from above everything appears okey-dokey to me.


Eyeballing the join shows something is catching the light. Though the testing by rolling cars threw the joint, even with my most notorious tank cars and longest gondolas, have all proven trouble free so far.

On close examination of the above enlargement I could see that it was the change in the width of the railhead at the joint that was catching the light. I might run a file over it to smooth out the transition. More to come in due course.

2 comments:

  1. Nice track work - I like the looks of fresh track laid out :) I'm in the messy sticky stages of ground goop and glue and flocking and ballast - it seems like a step backwards but I think I'm going to like it in the end. Could you please comment on how you attach your feeder wires?

    Regards,

    Charles Hostetler

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  2. I've got the gloopy mess to come, but have handy-dandy ballast spreading widget for spreading ballast to try out, which I hope will make thing easier.

    As for the wiring I solder droppers to the underneath of the rail. I did all my initial wires with the track on the workbench, but in the above case I fed the dropper wires in from the top of the baseboard.

    I had pre-tinned the wire and used a paste flux called Fry PowerFlow Flux, which makes soldering pretty easy. However, it is highly corrosive if not cleaned off, but is water soluble.

    For how, see here:

    http://no-two-alike.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/burnham-yard-track-laying-5.html

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